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Taking Technology Part 2
Southwestern States - North America: Sideswipe arrives from the Northwestern States to the north. Sideswipe has arrived. Sideswipe drops down transforming into a red Lamborghini Countach. Its another hot dry day in the Arizona mesas. To humans, the arid dry land isn't of much use; but, to one Autobot, this land is wonderful. After a long day of cleaning Metroplex for another practical joke, the red Autobot twin is out on the mesa. His engine revving as he pushes his engine faster and faster. A duststorm follows Sideswipe as he speeds across the land. With a disdainful shrug, Blast Off transforms into a space shuttle. Brigand descends from the skies above. Brigand has arrived. Space Shuttle is flying over those same mesas, but he does not share the Autobot's love for the desert landscape. To him, the desolate landscape is a barren mudball... vastly inferior to Cybertron's majesty. He is unhappy about even being stuck on the planet at all. As he flies back towards his base, the Combaticon picks up a beep on his scanners. There, far below, is Sideswipe. Hmmm. Immediately, the shuttle is reminded of that recent day when Blurr finally lost his temper- on the Cybertron channel for everyone to hear, no less, ha! - and then there was THIS mech.... Sideswipe sure liked talking tough. Cram Blast Off's head through his tailpipe, was it? No, the Autofool should not be allowed to get away with speaking to him like that. Thus the brown and purple shuttle shifts flight course and begins flying down towards the car as his weapon systems begin to come online. A sinister shadow falls across the land, darting over the ground swiftly just as it's point of origin streaks through the air. The sharp profile is one that's familiar to many an Autobot and Deception. An otherworldly craft powered by otherworldly propulsion systems, it catches up easily to Blast Off. Then the Sweepcraft unfolds into an equally dark robot form, demonic wings spread and crimson optics blazing. Still he keeps pace with the Combaticon. Is this Scourge? Is Unicron's own, lord of the hunt and master of ruin?? The mouth opens..."Hi there!" And a cheerful, decidedely un-Scourgelike voice comes out. Oh wait, it's just Brigand. Sideswipe is not Red Alert nor Hound nor any of the scout type Autotbots with their vast sensor arrays. Sideswipe is also assuming he's safe since he's here on Earth where the Decepticons haven't been that active. Shame on him being so comfortable. The red Coutach continues 'flying' down the mesa oblivious to the rude awakening he's about to get. Space Shuttle zooms down to connect with his prey when Brigand suddenly zips in to say hello. Literally. And he's fast! As fast... maybe slightly faster than Blast Off? The Combaticon *instantly* doesn't like him. HE is the fast one, not some miserable Sweep! Plus, the way the Sweep comes up and starts chatting gets on the silent sniper shuttle's nerves as well... (of course, a LOT of things get on this shuttle's nerves...) He responds, "Do you MIND? I am about to settle a score with this Autofool. With SILENCE and skill. And I do NOT need your help." With an arrogant sniff, he continues down towards the Coutach as the side cannons on his fuselage power up and fire! "Remember me, Autofool? You sounded quite tough over the radio, let us see how tough you are out here alone!" Combat: Space Shuttle sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Space Shuttle strikes Sports Car with his Settling Scores (Laser) attack! Sideswipe immediately says, "Oh Primus!" as Blast Off announce himself. With no warning of the blast coming in, the laser strikes the hood of Sideswipe's alt form. It cuts a small gash into hood. Sideswipe immediately slams on the breaks and transforms into his robot mode. "Oh HECK no!!" Sideswipe yells as he stands up. "You want to cheap shot games... let's play." Sideswipe pulls out his photon rifle and takes a quick snap shot at Blast Off. "Come down here and fight me like a mech, Blast Off" The red Lamborghini Countach splits apart forming the Autobot Warrior, Sideswipe. Combat: Sideswipe misses Space Shuttle with his Laser attack! "Huh?" Brigand watches Blast Off and Sideswipe exchange shots with interest, then spreads his wings and flies over until he's above Blast Off again. "Oh, sure...If this is some kind of grudge match, I'm not getting involved." He casts a mock salute to Sideswipe. "Good luck, Slowswipe." Then he turns back towards Blast Off. "You know, I was actually looking for Swindle." Space Shuttle hehs as Sideswipe takes a hit and transforms, shooting at him but missing, of course! He tsks. "You Autofools can never seem to actually hit your target... most especially when it's *me*." The shuttle rockets overhead, then circles back for another go. "But I AM fighting you like a mech... a mech who can fly, and a mech who is a skilled shot. Why should I do anything differently? It's not my fault that ground-pounders such as yourself are such an inferior build...." Now a hatch under his nosecone opens, and he lets loose with a short bombardment burst. "Swindle?" he replies to Brigand. "Why... do you owe him something?" Combat: Space Shuttle strikes Sideswipe with his Fight Like a Shuttle attack! -5 Sideswipe attempts to dodge out of the way as the area he is in gets peppered by blast from Blast Off's iconic attack. Sadly, the red twin isn't able to make much headway with Blast Off's accuracy. Sideswipe's armor melts away in areas as he gets hit several times. "Groundpounder, eh? I think you might have forgotten something." Sideswipe fires off his rocketpack propelling him into the sky towards Blast Off. "Not all Autobots are created equally. And I for one intend on pounding you down." Leaving nothing to chance, Sideswipe drives himself towards Blast-Off leaving no chance to defend himself. His arms transform into their piledrivers and Sideswipe attempt to even the battlefield by crush Blast Off and his armor. Combat: Sideswipe sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Sideswipe misses Space Shuttle with his Fortification Buster attack! Space Shuttle is surprised when the "ground-pounder" suddenly "grows wings and flies"! If the shuttle were any slower, he probably would have received the pounding Sideswipe mentioned. And that would probably HURT, given his weak armor. Fortunately for him, his agility sees him safely up and away from the attack with a sharp banking to the right. Thrusters roar and he circles around. "Well. Perhaps I was just a bit presumptous... you're like an Aerialbot, but the effect seems a little more... hmm, tacked on as an afterthought?" He seems to sneer as transforms midair into his root mode. "But I am not uncivilized.... I shall meet you in the sky, then, mech to mech!" (...But at a safe distance, of course, since he doesn't do hand to hand combat well. He's not saying that out loud, naturally.) The Combaticon fires with his ionic blaster at the Autobot! Blast Off shifts into his battle-ready robot mode. Combat: Blast Off strikes Sideswipe with his Did you drink Some Red Bull or Something? attack! -1 Sweepcraft looks between Sideswipe and Blast Off, silently mouthing the word 'groundpounder'. He raises a finger, mouth opened as if he's going to say something to Blast Off...but then Sideswipe makes his point for him. Brigan tilts his head to the side, shrugs and says something different instead. "Owe Swindle something? Me? Owe -Swindle- something. Oh no, nothing like that...other than respect, maybe." Brigand shifts into his robot mode. The ionic blast hits Sideswipe squarely in the chest and the damage is quite obvious as the red Autobot begins to fall back to earth. Spinning downward, Sideswipe finally brings himself upright before flying into the ground. Sideswipe looks over at the Sweep who hasn't engaged him and talks 'oddly' for a Sweep... at least from an Autobot's perspective. "What in Primus are you talking about? Aren't Sweeps supposed to be all goth and stuff?" Still, Sideswipe needs to deal with the Combaticon instead of the Sweep (as the sweep hasn't attacked). Sideswipe immediately flies back towards Blast Off and attempts to fly under and behind the Combaticon. While not designed for a lot of aerial combat, Sideswipe does know his way around. And figuring he might not win this fight, he might as well have some fun. Sideswipe attempts to grab Blast Off and rub his knuckles into Blast Off's head. "Maybe I can't beat your super fast flying freakness, but I can have some fun with you." Combat: Sideswipe sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Sideswipe misses Blast Off with his Bad Touch (Grab) attack! Blast Off engages rocket feet thrusters and powers away quickly as the Autobot tries to get up-close-and-personal... the very thing the aloof Combaticon doesn't like. Still keeping a safe distance, he tilts his head and replies to Sideswipe drolly, "Yes, you must be having *so* much fun... if missing me over and over is your idea of fun." He shakes his head and continues hovering. "I am not even sure if you are worth my time. Why don't you stop wasting it, and fetch me Blurr so that I may destroy him? At least that fool can sometimes HIT something. Well... once in a blue moon, at least." He turns and pretends to ignore the Autobot, but is watching Sideswipe out of the corner of his optics. Combat: Blast Off takes extra time to steady himself. Pass To Brigand, the shuttleformer casts a quick glance. "Then what is it? He's a busy mech, as am I. If you wish to speak to him, I *might* tell him you are looking for him... but why?" "You are a slippery little piece of metal" Sideswipe admits. Still, the red Autobot doesn't look like he's frustrated or worried. He's a warrior, this is what he was built for. "Maybe I just need to shine a bit of light on the situation." And with that, Sideswipe begins to fight dirty by launching chemicals into the air. Combat: Sideswipe misses Blast Off with his Magnesium Phosphorous Flares attack! Blast Off evades that attack, as well. Ew, Primus knows what chemicals those were, but it is certain he wants nothing to do with them. He just got a fresh paint job, too! However, he doesn't let the Autobot in on all this and instead feigns indifference. "My, this is boring. I'm beginning to believe it would be more interesting to watch those things down there that the fleshlings call tumbleweeds blow across the desert than "fight"... if that's what one can call it.... you." He gives Sideswipe a contempuous look. He's probably sneering behind that faceplate. "But... I suppose I must at least rid this place of a pest, if nothing else." With that, he points his cannons at Sideswipe and fires off a shot, still keeping his distance. Combat: Blast Off strikes Sideswipe with his Hardly Worth My Effort! *sniff* (Pistol) attack! "Lieutenant, you shouldn't go. Your suit's still damaged, your ammo hasn't been replenished, and you haven't had your batteries refueled." "I know." "And the Decepticons are in an isolated area- the damage will be minimal wether we intervene or not." "I know." "And you're going to go anyway, to get back at those Decepticons that took hostages last time, aren't you?" "You're catching on, Sargeant." And with that, Melody Reynolds cracks a smile and snaps the faceplate of her battlesuit into place- at which point she steps up and onto the bed of a military flatbed- she gives the roof of the cab a friendly *knock knock!* and the truck is off, haul-assing to the particular mesa that the battle's taking place on! Another blast hits and Sideswipe begins to feel the effects. His systems are showing marked decrease in effectiveness. Sideswipe uses the last of the fuel in his jetpack to fly down towards the ground. "Well, Blast Off... I think its time I head home. I'll get you next time, punk. Next time, you won't get a cheapshot on me." Sideswipe grumbles to himself as he transforms and attempt to pull away from pursuit... thinking next time he'll be the one getting the dirty cheap shot in. Sideswipe drops down transforming into a red Lamborghini Countach. Combat: Sports Car begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. Blast Off scoffs as he watches Sideswipe run off. "Coward!" He calls after the Autobot, but the ground-pounder... or whatever he should be called... is not worth the pursuit, so he lets him go to be destroyed another time. Perhaps he'll go back to the Autobot base and tell the others how fearsome the Combaticon is!!! Yes, that's it! Shaking his head, he sinks down until he lands on the ground below. A tumbleweed drifts by and he watches it momentarily, then bahs. Now he needs to find something else to do... just then, he detects another beep on his screen. Something is coming in. The Combaticon stands and watches, waiting, with blaster drawn. Battlesuit cruises down the highway in the bed of a military truck- just in time to see a red Lamborghini speeding the other way. The driver pipes in over the radio- "Was that..." "Yep." Melody says. "Are we still..." "Yep." "Okay, just wanted to make sure, ma'am." "I'll take it from here, soldier." Melody says- and she flexes her knees, and with a *JUMP!* she leaps out of the bed of the truck, sailing through the sky towards the mesa- she then snaps her left hand out, and a grapnel line streaks from her arm, embedding into the rock- and it yanks her along towards the rock wall. Melody lands, finds footholds- and she springs to the top of the mesa proper! "Oh." Melody says, "You again." And she snaps her rifle up and opens fire! Combat: Battlesuit strikes Blast Off with her PEW! (Laser) attack! Blast Off is feeling rather cocky, after having engaged in a very one-sided battle with an Autobot. Instead of his usual cautionary launching into the air and watching his opponent (or whoever it is) approach, he stands confidently on the mesa- on the ground.... not his strong point. But... he'll just shoot whatever it is as it arrives. Unfortunately, Melody's smaller size seems to make it easier for her to spot him and shoot HIM first than the other way around. The Combaticon flinches as the shot connects and he realizes who it is. That blasted organic... the one who nearly offlined him the first time they met. Taking a hostage drove her back last time, but there are no hostages here. But Blast Off will not be frightened by a mere HUMAN. "You should have stayed away, fleshling. It is not safe up here for a weak organic such as yourself..." He fires his blaster at her, taking a step forward as he does so. He will NOT be intimidated by this mere human! Combat: Blast Off strikes Battlesuit with his Go Before I squish You attack! -2 Battlesuit reels! That blast smacks Melody straight on, and she staggers back- off the edge of the Mesa! It's only by luck that she's able to grab hold of the edge with one hand, and hoist herself back up again. "Funny how that works," she says, teeth gritted. "I guess I didn't do a good enough a job scaring you off the first time." And with that, Melody leaps back into action, running in a tight circle around Blast Off, peppering him with gunfire the whole while as she looks to close the distance while he's still in his humanoid form, taking the advantage where she can! Combat: Battlesuit strikes Blast Off with her Battle Rifle attack! Blast Off moves in place as she circles around him, keeping a tab on her. It's not enough to prevent her from connecting again, though, and this time her shot slices through a shoulder. "Ow!" He puts a hand on the damaged area, optics flashing slightly. He really ought to take her more seriously, but... for Primus's sake, she's a lowly ORGANIC! There's no way she's a match for his Cybertronian superiority! The Combaticon has already received enough ribbing from the other Decepticons for the last time she sent him running off... he has no intention of letting it happen again. His pride is at stake, and... well, this Combaticon is DEFINED by his ego, after all. He can't let her best him... not again. "You annoy me, fleshling. That is all. I do not usually even bother with your kind... you are so below us... but I have had quite enough of you. It is time to perform some pest control." Still standing on the ground, he suddenly darts in towards her, trying to knock her roff the mesa! Normally, he doesn't like getting up close, but it's a mere organic... should be easy to knock around (unlike what he finds with most other Cybertronians), right? Combat: Blast Off strikes Battlesuit with his KNOCK it Off! (Ram) attack! *KAPOW!* Melody tumbles through the air, knocked clear off the side of the mesa! But thankfully, her armor was specifically designed for ridiculous acrobatics- within moments, gyroscopes kick in, not to mention untold hours of exosuit training...and Melody snaps her left hand out again, shooting another grapple line into the side of the mesa- it yanks taut, and Melody soon slams into the side of the rock formation- she barely manages to brace herself with her feet. This done, she thumbs the selector to start winching herself upwards- and she can't help but laugh, if just a little. "Going to have to do better than that." she says- and as soon as she's up over the edge, she's blazing away with her rifle again! Combat: Battlesuit strikes Blast Off with her PEW! (Laser) attack! Blast Off succeeds in knocking the pest off the mesa... but as usual, a physical attack like that almost seems to do as much damage to him from the impact as his enemy. He steps back, flexing a damaged arm servo in annoyance, when Melody pops back up and starts firing again. "Slag..." He flings his arms up to shield himself from the fire as heat shield tiles crack. Stepping back, he almost has to marvel at the fleshling's accuracy. "Well... I suppose I must give you at least a LITTLE credit. You shoot better than most Autofools do..." The Combaticon finally begins to take her somewhat seriously. She may be a pest, but this pest bites- and does so often. "You want better? Can you handle it, fleshling? Don't be an idiot and try to be brave... simply accept my superiority and retreat before you are permanently offlined!" As she keeps firing, he raises his blaster and does the same, beginning to step back now and try to keep some distance. Combat: Blast Off sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Blast Off strikes Battlesuit with his Just accept my superiority and we can get along fine! attack! Battlesuit is hit again! She staggers...but does not fall. Her armor is scorched, melted in places- but through it all, Melody forces herself forward. "See, that's the thing, Decepticon. Us humans? We're adaptable. You've been fighting the same war for millions of years. And humans...we've known you for what, forty, fifty years?" she grins behind her faceplate, and braces herself as her shoulder rocket array snaps into place. "Even if you kill me, there's millions of humans more. And just think what THEY'LL think up in another few years, hm? Something even nastier than this." *FWOOSH!& Combat: Battlesuit misses Blast Off with her High Impact Rocket attack! Blast Off looks haughtily down at the human. She does bring up an unpleasant thought... ugh, millions of more of these horrid reatures... no, isn't it billions? It's not like he WANTS to be stuck on this mudball, he is only following orders. But he doesn't have much time to think about this further, because the human shoots a rocket at him. This time he's ready, lunging to the side and behind a small (to him) boulder. "Perhaps you are adaptable, fleshling. A weak species such as yourself would have to be to survive. But when something works, when it's near perfection... well then. You do not mess with it. You embrace it. You spend millions of years doing things... yes, some things over and over again... and you learn every nuance of your chosen skills and abilities. There is no reason to HAVE to adapt, when you can make the universe adapt to YOU." He continues proudly and points to the sky, "And I am a space shuttle, fleshling. Sadly- I am limited to the appearance of your pathetic Earth shuttles... but even in this form I can still fly through the stars. Have you ever been up above? Have you even flown through a nebula, seen an asteroid, or seen even a fraction of the things I have? I think NOT. Do not presume to tell me ANYTHING." With that, he grabs the boulder with some effort and throws it at Melody. "Here, fleshling- I'll share this much- an asteroid is basically a fast rock- a little like THIS!" Combat: Blast Off strikes Battlesuit with his Like a Space Rock (Punch) attack! *CLANG!* Melody staggers, her armor damaged...but then she stares at the rock thrown at her. And then...and then she begins to laugh. "Ha ha ha! Oh, hoh wow, that's good. I...I kind of wish I could retract my faceplate here, because I'm kind of crying from laughing so hard. Wow." Melody shakes her head. "...all that bragging, and all you have is a ROCK? Wow. Not to be a jerk or anything, but my species kind of had the rock thing wrapped up about fifty thousand years ago. But really, thanks. I needed a laugh. Here, have something similar." And with that, Melody pulls a cannister from her webbing, and tosses it underhand at Blast Off. Of course, once it gets close, it goes *KABOOF!* in a burst of flash and static! "Us humans have been working on that 'throwing stuff' thing, by the way. We call them grenades." Combat: Battlesuit sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: Battlesuit misses Blast Off with her Stun Grenade attack! Blast Off glares at the presumptuous human as she reacts with a less-than-impressed manner. He doesn't like being taken lightly... rubs his (huge) ego the wrong way. When she throws the grenade at him, the quick Combaticon is already launching into the air. "Very nice, fleshling. I'm sure that was impressive by your meager standards. But we do so much more than mere trifles like that. This "transforming" thing, for instance. In fact, I believe you call us transformers, do you not?" As he flies up, he transforms. "We have grenades, too. But also so much more. Would you like to see my weaponry, Earth creature? It's a bit like a grenade... I call it a bombardment. And you are in for a treat... it's quite spectacular. Sadly, it will probably be the last thing you ever see..." And with that he launches an orbital bombardment at the human down below! With a disdainful shrug, Blast Off transforms into a space shuttle. Combat: Space Shuttle sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Space Shuttle strikes Battlesuit with his You Want Something Impressive? attack! -3 Battlesuit is lost. Lost from view, at least, as Blast Off rains a nigh-biblical amount of firepower down upon her- Melody's armor is barely visible amidst the flashes of laser energy and glassed sand! The brave EDC soldier's HUD lights up with red indicators as her armor burns all around her, to the point of scorching the very flesh her armor protects. And yet, even as her armor burns around her, Melody coughs out a final taunt. "...That -is- impressive, Decepticon. And how much energy did you just burn to take out just one puny human?" she coughs. "Asymmetrical warfare is a wonderful thing, don't you think?" And with that, Melody staggers backwards- again, falling OFF of the mesa this time- on purpose, even! Hopefully the truck should be able to salvage her soon enough... Combat: Battlesuit sets her defense level to Protected. Combat: Battlesuit begins retreating, leaving herself vulnerable to parting shots from Space Shuttle and Cybertronian Turbo-Thrust Jet Fighter Space Shuttle swoops around again, but the human is running off like the pathetic coward her kind always is. The shuttle feels a surge of vindictive pride at finally sending her packing. The other Decepticons should stop ribbing him for losing to a human now! He transfroms and lands back on the mesa for a moment to savor his voctory. Then looks around and realizes no one else is here to see it, so.... only he will know. Slag it. Combat: Space Shuttle takes extra time to steady himself. Pass